The price of fuel at the pump has risen with petrol at 148.02p a litre and diesel at 151.57p.
Image source, Getty Images
Fuel prices have hit a new record high at the pump across the UK, tightening the squeeze on UK consumers, the motoring organisation the AA has said.
Over the weekend petrol reached 148.02p a litre, while diesel hit a new record high of 151.57p a litre last Thursday.
Fuel previously hit a record in November, before wholesale and retail prices fell back.
“The cost of living crisis has been ratcheted up yet another notch,” said Luke Bosdet of the AA.
The RAC’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams said the price of filling a 55-litre family car was now an “eye-watering” £81.41.
“With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 a barrel and retailers keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks,” he said.
Fuel prices at the pump are driven largely by the wholesale price of energy which has shot up due to tensions over whether Russia will invade Ukraine.
On Monday, oil prices hit their highest level since 2014, reaching $95.56 a barrel.
If the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, oil and gas supplies from Russia to Europe may be interrupted, pushing up wholesale prices further.
The supply of oil and gas has already struggled to keep up with growing demand as the global economy picked up in recent months as Covid restrictions eased.
The RAC’s Mr Williams said: “On a positive note, retailer margins – which were the reason drivers paid overly high prices in December and January – have now returned to more normal levels of around 7p a litre.”
He said the big four supermarkets, which dominate fuel sales, should “play fair” with drivers by keeping their profit margins low.
Day-to-day prices for food, household bills and other items such as used cars, have risen sharply in recent months, in part due to rising energy prices.
UK inflation is now at a 30-year high of 5.4%.
Mr Bodset said the AA had surveyed 15,000 of its members after prices spiked at the end of last year and found higher fuel prices were leading 43% of them to cut back on the amount they used their car as well as other areas of spending.